Music therapy developmentally facilitates individuals to share their knowledge of new skills with others. By learning how to play an instrument, such as an assistive guitar, an individual has the opportunity to develop a sense of industry and competence. Music serves multiple functions, including social, emotional, and compensatory needs and is multi-modal, involving perceptual, cognitive, and physical processes. One goal of the device is to disclose an assistive musical instrument, referred to herein as a “modular automated assistive guitar,” that can be actuated by an individual with a range of independence and physical abilities. The use of the modular automated assistive guitar may also be facilitated by another person, such as a teacher, therapist, or colleague. This person may also be restricted in his/her range of physical or cognitive skill level.
The legal system of the United States federal government and of various states support, and in some instances mandate, that all children within their jurisdiction have access to a free public education, emphasizing special education and related services for students with identified physical or metal disabilities. Many school systems in the United States, exemplified by Rosedale School, an Austin Independent School District campus for students with multiple disabilities in Austin, Tex., support the unique needs of their students and provide a positive learning environment to prepare them to live, work, and enjoy life in their community. These school systems are supported, in turn, by research and development work at colleges, universities and commercial industry. The curriculum offered by the Mechanical Engineering Department and research efforts conducted under the direction of Dr. Kristin L. Wood is cited as examples of such support at the University of Texas at Austin. The musical device of the present invention can be effectively used by the school systems to assist students within their systems that have such special needs.
Beyond the use in music therapy and as assistive devices for the classroom, automated instruments provide an avenue for teaching basic instrument lessons and for appreciating the musical sounds produced by the instrument. In the case of the present modular automated assistive guitar, a modular architecture is disclosed which include a base assembly, a pick assembly, a strumming mechanism and a fretting mechanism as novel, distinct subsystems. These modules provide permit the user to focus on particular actions of playing the guitar while automating other actions. For example, strumming with a particular rhythm or cadence may be actuated within the modular guitar system while the operator slides the fretting mechanism to learn or play different chords. The operator(s) may also change picks, adjust strumming speeds, or change particular guitars within the device. The modular automated assistive guitar is usually positioned on a stand (a separate unit) that permits the operator to adjust the guitar in height and orientation for convenience.
Several United States Patents (USP) have been issued that relate to stringed musical instruments (e.g., the guitar) and modifications to the traditional instruments. The following patents are illustrative: U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,787, U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,400, U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,059, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,273, U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,365, U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,253, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,397, U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,330, U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,925, U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,307, U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,307 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,904. So far as the inventors are aware, none of the devices described in these patents have been used in whole or in part as an automated assistive guitar. Accordingly, there is a long-felt need for such a musical device to assist persons with physical, emotional, or mental needs.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a modular automated assistive guitar that will interface with a conventional/standard guitar and automate the actions of flexibly holding a pick, strumming with different cadence or rhythm, and guiding a fretting device for choosing the chords and tonal quality of the produced music. For convenience, as used herein, the term “guitar” shall mean a guitar and other similar stringed musical instruments (e.g., a banjo, steel guitar, ukulele) that have a body and a neck, similar to a guitar, and are played in substantially the same way as a guitar. The second objective of this invention is to provide a modular automated assistive guitar that is easily adaptable to various guitars. The third objective is to provide an assistive musical instrument that is compact, light weight, and portable (an instrument that is relatively easily transported by the operator). The fourth objective of this invention is to provide a system that is easily positioned to accommodate the operator's height, weight, and preferred means of interaction with the instrument, based on the operator's physical abilities. In some instances, the operator may be able to stand but in other instances the operator may be restricted to a sitting position (as in a wheelchair) or to a reclining position (as on a hospital type bed or couch). The operator may also be limited in how he or she can activate the switch mechanism of the automated assistive guitar. In some instances, the operator may have the physical ability to activate it with their limbs, but in other instances the physical ability of the operator may be restricted to the use of other parts of their body (e.g., head, torso, etc.) to activate the switch mechanism. A modular automated assistive guitar has now been discovered that meets the above objectives.